Harness racing bill pulls up lame

Expanded harness racing at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is dead for now, and Rep. Raymond Poe isn’t sure he’ll pursue the idea again.

Doug Finke

Expanded harness racing at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is dead for now, and Rep. Raymond Poe isn’t sure he’ll pursue the idea again.

Poe’s plan to bring additional harness racing — and the wagering that goes with it — to the fairgrounds beyond the run of the state fair itself stalled in a Senate committee Wednesday amid questions about just how the plan would work.

Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, asked the Senate Executive Committee to delay a vote on the bill while he tried to get answers. Sullivan was sponsoring the bill in the Senate on Poe’s behalf.

“We’ll try to come back at some point later,” Sullivan said.

Poe, though, said that isn’t likely with the House and Senate intent on trying to wrap up their work by Saturday’s scheduled deadline.

“I don’t see how I can make it work this late, especially if we (finish) this week,” said Poe, R-Springfield. “I talked to some members of the committee, and it seems like there’s a lot of questions they want answered.”

Poe was noncommittal Wednesday about whether he will continue to pursue the idea, either later this summer or when lawmakers return for the veto session in November.

“I’m just going to sit back and look at it and see what the options are,” he said. “I think there’s a fear factor here that it’s going to disrupt the income of these other (gambling) facilities, which I don’t see.”

Poe’s bill would set up an authority whose job would be to select a contractor to run harness racing and betting at the fairgrounds. Two members of the authority would be appointed by Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin, two by Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter, two by the state Department of Agriculture and one to represent the Sangamon County emergency dispatch system, which would benefit from the revenue generated.

Several committee members said the bill appears to give control of the fairgrounds racetrack to the authority rather than the Department of Agriculture. Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said it appeared the authority could order the state to pay for track alterations or other improvements.

Righter also questioned the amount of net profits from the expanded racing that would go to the emergency dispatch system. The bill calls for the system to get one-third of the net profits, with the rest going to fairgrounds improvements.

Although no one knows how much money expanded fairgrounds racing would bring in, Righter said the share designated for the dispatch system is a “large amount of money.”

Whoever won the contract to operate racing at the fairgrounds would also be entitled to open up to six off-track betting parlors. Lanny Brooks, executive director of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said the bill would allow an OTB to be located near Fairmount racetrack in Collinsville, taking business away from the track.

“We are on the verge of extinction,” Brooks said. “Opening an OTB would be the final nail in the coffin.”

Questions also were raised about making the fairgrounds track suitable for additional racing. Acting Department of Agriculture Director Tom Jennings said lighting would have to be installed for night racing, along with a new track surface and changes to the grandstand. He didn’t estimate the total cost, but said the lighting alone could run as high as $1.7 million.

“There are some funding issues here,” Jennings said. “I do not have a clear idea where that would come from.”

Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin, who testified in favor of the bill, said city officials are looking at ways to help finance the needed upgrades, including the use of proceeds from the city’s hotel-motel tax. Davlin said the fairgrounds holds many events that bring in tourists and that expanded horse racing would add to that.

“Ultimately, that’s going to come back to us,” Davlin said. “The more people we bring in (for tourism), it’s going to offset those costs.”

After the committee hearing, Davlin said the questions raised were legitimate and that he thought all of the concerns could be worked out.

“The general consensus, I hope, is to move forward,” he said. “We still have some things we need to do.”

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.

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